Turning up to gigs with no gear

DefaultM

Why do people do this? In the past 3 gigs I've played a member from another band has approached us and asked if they can borrow a piece of gear like an amp as they didn't bring theirs and just assumed other bands would share theirs.

Is this normal everywhere? I find it really confusing.

nocasternoproblem

Never heard of this...how bizarre. Can't imagine turning up and ending up playing someone else's stuff tbh...what if they only had a Marshall

rossyamaha

Happened to me so many times. One band turned up and had nothing. Like, nothing at all! No guitars, cymbals. Didn't even have picks. I'm not selfish at all when it comes to loaning stuff out but when they gave it the big I am and got shirty when I called them out on it, thats when I clam up. Needless to say they ended up not playing the gig.

DefaultM

A band here have just turned up with no amps or anything.
"Excuse me guys, can we just borrow your band's sound for the night?"

Hootsmon

you mean hash?

rossyamaha

DefaultM said:

A band here have just turned up with no amps or anything.
"Excuse me guys, can we just borrow your band's sound for the night?"

"Yes of course you can guys. That will be £60 per piece of gear. Ta".

digitalscream

That's why I always email all the other bands on the bill before a gig and ask if there's any kit-sharing going on, or expected, and let them know which bits of mine I'm happy to share if necessary (ie only my cab).

I have no problem with lending sundries like a strap or picks, because they're easily forgotten, but if somebody shows up and expects to just use my gear with no prior request, the answer's a straight "no".

Emp_Fab

I had it once, some oik wanted to plug into my HRD.  I told him I was leaving early - with my amp, which I did.  Cheeky fucker.  I would never dream of turning up at a gig expecting to use a stranger's gear.

littlegreenman

I've happily let people use my stuff at jam nights, and turned up to same with only my guitar but that's different in my book. It's not a gig, no-one's getting paid usually and it's a bit of fun and beers.

When I was actually gigging though, it was normally a flat no unless it was due to an amp exploding or something unforseen. And then there was usually a condition

Ché

I've lent my amp to acts before if they've forgotten theirs (or thought mine sounded better). I don't mind if I'm sticking around the venue and for some reason promotors always seem to put us on last. When I've had amps die on me it's rare I don't get a member from one of the others bands offering to lend me theirs. We're all there to play music and have a good time. Just offering means a lot and I make sure they know I appreciate it.

If a band turns up without gear, expecting to use a house rig, fine, if that rig consists of our gear, I might be a little peeved, but most of the time it's a miscommunication and the band has been told there is indeed a house rig.

Tbh, sharing gear makes turn arounds quick and if one of the bands has sub par gear I'd actually encourage them to lend my stuff if it'll make everything sound better. I mean, the amps there on stage waiting for our slot, there's no harm in it. Guitar wise it'd be a bit different but if I had a spare I wouldn't mind too much. As long as they asked before hand... not wait till they break a string during their set then waltz over to my guitar stand, pick up my guitar, plug it in and continue... grrr, yeah that happened.

Seeing as I've now gone all bitter...

If I'm drumming at a gig.

Fuck off.

I've had a supporting act drummer literally beat the shit out of my skins and leave dents in them. I only noticed 2 bands later when it was our slot. He didn't even need to play that hard. Not one word from that c*nt, no apology, nothing. You gonna pay £50+ to reskin my kit? I already paid petrol to ferry my band here and get paid in fucking beer that I don't drink because I'm driving. Don't be a dick! Oh and don't steal my cymbal washers or use your double kick pedal when my kick drum doesn't have the beater pads for it. Eurgh.

Moral of all this: Be polite, be courteous, ask before hand.

digitalscream

Ché said:

I've had a supporting act drummer literally beat the shit out of my skins and leave dents in them. I only noticed 2 bands later when it was our slot. He didn't even need to play that hard. Not one word from that c*nt, no apology, nothing. You gonna pay £50+ to reskin my kit? I already paid petrol to ferry my band here and get paid in fucking beer that I don't drink because I'm driving. Don't be a dick! Oh and don't steal my cymbal washers or use your double kick pedal when my kick drum doesn't have the beater pads for it. ,

That happened at one of our gigs - it wasn't our drummer's gear, but this dude turned up without any breakables and asked (politely) to use one of the other bands' gear. Fair enough...

...he beat the shit out of the snare to the point where there were 15mm dents in it, cracked a cymbal and broke the kick pedal. Then he just legged it as soon as the owner of the gear went on stage to help him clear it off and saw the extent of the damage.

The promoter promptly cancelled all that band's gigs and put a warning out to other promoters, and told the band they'd be allowed back if they sacked the drummer or he paid for the damage. I believe nobody's heard from them since.

jpttaylor

When we've been on the bill with other bands, we've usually emailed round and asked about sharing the drum kit because moving/dismantling/micing kits is just tedious, but I've never let anyone use my amp.

To turn up and just assume is pretty risky, especially if everyone just said no. You'd be left either looking pretty stupid or plugging guitars into the mixer.

usedtobe

Some people..

Tex Mexico

I used to lend back when other bands would show up with good gear too and we'd pool to make changes easier or to back up each other's gear.

Now increasingly it's some spotty kids with the usual brace of Line6 Spiders who see our plexis and fancy having a go, or in a couple of cases the bass player (in a lot of cases the one of them who was too shit to be a guitarist) showing up a just announcing he doesn't have an amp, like that's someone else's problem.

I've fucking had it up to here with kids expecting other people to pay for their hobbies. Not long ago a band I know of bought a piece of shit van that broke down before they were due to go on a "tour" of pubs around the northwest. They made a kickstarter and asked other people to pay for fixing it. Then they went on their tour, then came back and broke up when they realised that no one comes to see your shit pop-punk band when you're not playing in your school hall.

Maybe I'm tight for not sharing my gear, but it's worth a fortune to me and if some kid who works in McDonald's fucks it he won't realistically be able to replace it, so I'm not taking that risk just so The Emo Haircuts can play a half-hour of Fallout Boy covers to their fat girlfriends.

PolarityMan

Happy to cab share, usually Im the one doing the providing though (although we did play through some rather tasty mesa 4x12s once so i guess the karma paid off) I have on occasion also lent out my head but I'm less comfortable doing that given the average experience level of the bands that turn up without amps.

Drumming wise its pretty standard practice for the headliners to provide the kit, Our drummer prefers to lend out if he can use his own kit that play someone elses. In an ideal world more venues would be prepared to do kit changes.

Gulliver

Back when I was gigging, I took everything to every gig, regardless of if we were kit-sharing or if backline was being provided.  That way, I definitely had everything I needed to play the gig - even if half of it sat in the car unused.  I'll loan stuff if it's discussed in advance, but not on the fly.

Here's a conversation I had with a synth player at a gig once:  

Him: 'ere mate, got any idea 'ow to make dis fing saaaand good??  (he'd plugged his synth into a bass amp)

Me: Does the guy who owns it know you're using it? Why not ask him?

Him: Yeah he's cool with it, but he's fucked off outside for a fag.

Me: That's funny - because that amp belongs to me, this is the first time you've spoken to me... So I suggest you unplug from that right now, and learn to ask in future.

Him: Nah mate, we're playing in a minute.

Me: Not using my amp you're not...

I then used 10 minutes of their set time to pack away and remove my bass amp from the stage...

slacker

Most gear shares I've been involved with were either prearranged or the band's got together and discussed it. I did one multiband charity gig where one guy was happy to use his bass amp so we all left ours in the cars. 

IMHO I'll use any bass amp and sometimes plug in without a sound check. However again IMHO a guitar amp is so much an ingredient of the sound that I'll always use mine. WHo wants to turn up and find out if theyve got a Gorilla or a Twin? 

Drew_TNBD

It needs to be pre-arranged. Of course.

But I wanna fly a flag out for something that REALLY pisses me off...

When a pre-arrangement has been arranged, and another band turns up and insists on using every bit of their own kit.

You daft fucking wankers. You've just added 15 minutes to the change overs, because you're so fucking egotistical and think your band is so hot shit that you should be taking everyone's gear off the stage so you can get your crap on there.

/rant

Ché

Yeah @Drew_fx, I hear that! It's worse when they insist on using their gear (normally a Line 6) with some overly complex rig or synth or drum machine for that one song that just NEEDS a synth breakdown or bass drop or some shit...

And it's like... Why?

I've played rigs with two amps and worried about how the sound guy will react, until we both realise I know how to play them and he knows and apprecaites how to make them sound good. It's all relative to the genre and band I suppose.

Difference is we as a band (and myself personally) can set up relatively quickly. We're respectful to the sound guys, get to know who they are and get them to know who we are before the gig. Telling them in advance what we need, what they have, would it be okay if? etc.

The sound guys is the barrier between you and the crowd. He has as much impact your sound as your Two Rocks and Fargen's and Cornish pedals.

Moral no. 2: Respect everyone and everything in the venue. Regardless of your lack of appreciation.

Drew_TNBD

Most of the time we go up with a line check. We're fast to get our sounds, we know what we're doing.

A band we played with a while ago, took almost an hour to soundcheck. They had the same setup as us - two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer.

It shouldn't take an hour to get that soundchecked. Not at all.

PolarityMan

Our last sound check took an hour and we were the only band on....Our drummer is a fucking nightmare.